tragedy strikes while at disney

in my nine year old's world, this was catastrophic. honey bought lady on mary claire's first trip to disney world.

mary claire quickly fell in love!

lady became her favorite friend and resided in a coveted spot on her bed. a couple years later she brought her back to disney...

and again this time.

mary claire packed her safely in her back pack. head out for oxygen ;)

lady photo-bombed our pictures.

enjoyed the rides

met the characters

even received some special attention from chip or dale... not sure

even stayed close when mary claire falls asleep on disney transportation (which i am not a fan of)

~this little lady was loved~

so when lady can't be found for bedtime tuck in, sheer exaggerated mary claire panic strikes. "oh please. no drama, not now, not this late, we were all ready for bed, exhausted and minutes from precious sleep."that day we had taken our car. i assured mary claire lady was sleeping safe and sound in the car. her tears 'almost' sent me hiking into a sea of mini vans at 11pm. (thankfully i didn't give in) i snapped this picture with my phone when i noticed lady's missing spot. i had no idea this animal was no where to be found.

the next day, first thing we searched the car... no way!

lady was missing somewhere in epcot.

while i wasn't in the mood to start the day with a full blown kiddie crisis, i was sad.

darn it, she loved that animal, they have a history.

so we call disney's central lost and found.

i can't even imagine what this massive mountain must look like dotted in red and white?

i did imagine how ridiculous i was going to sound.

honey took over the call and waited! the nicest cast member promised if lady was found, disney would mail her home.

i'm picturing this cast member talking so sweet while rolling their eyes... a $20 stuffed animal ~ seriously lady?

can't say i blame them ;) i was rolling my eyes at myself.

last picture of lady #1

to chill her drama, i tried buckets of sympathy.

i tried mind games maybe lady wanted to stay at disney. maybe lady ran off with tramp.

i tried threats if you do not stop crying right now...

hope and bribery won.

we would replace lady with an exact replica

and hope lady #1 would return via the postal service!

but of course, we all know lady #2 just wasn't the same.

so sad to see her walk around minus her buddy.

so here she is with her new lady.

(we were going for the extreme tourist look)

new lady has a head that is a little lumpy and her nose is slightly crooked. nothing a little love can't cure.

and do you know right after i snapped this picture, we turned our backs for 30 seconds and an older boy in a gray hoodie ran off with her balloon! all the way to his hotel room.

the image of that kid running, the balloon streaming behind him, me running like a crazy woman, the stuffed animal crisis and a seven hour ride home with moredramamade me crazy!

i tracked that little sucker down, talked to his father and got her balloon back!

i'm thinking she inherited her drama gene from my side ;)

then we all had a talk about how important it is to always, always return items to the lost and found. even if they appear meaningless, they could mean the world to someone else. (call me crazy, but today i am going to make one last call to the disney lost and found)

Oh Heidi, my little Davis would feel the same way if his precious Mildred the black bear went missing! And talk about DRAMA!! Disney is one of my favorite places on earth because they can do magic like none other....so Lady #1 may very well turn up in your mailbox! In the meantime, I can totally feel your pain! Hope y'all had a blast!

Heidi,My heart is near breaking, as you have brought me back to two of the most tragic moments in Sparks Family history... One ended well, one did not. Alexandra's pupper, a little Gund puppy that had almost no hair left, came everywhere with us, and bedtime did not occur without him. So when we were 60 minutes into our trip to my parent's house, we did turn around....Graham however, had a bear. That bear and Graham were out on the swingset near daddy's office. Never to be found again. Bear, not Graham. The way it smelled, I am sure some animal thought it was something special. I actually wrote a letter to our little local paper asking if anyone had found it. Kenny thought I was crazy.... Of course there were no responses. I ended up giving him my bear from when I was little. He was only about 4 or 5 when it happened, so the thought of Graham without Bear was more traumatic for me than anyone..... I'm so happy you were able to diffuse some of the drama, and Ladyll will have a wonderful home!!!Cheryl

Glad to see your morning running skills have come in handy. The words "To Catch A Thief" are running through my head. You Go Girl! (P.S. I'm sorry about Lady #1 but how lucky for Lady #2 to get to reside with the Graves family - that's another lucky pup).